Cleanweb – Web for Environmental Sustainability

We hosted the first Cleanweb Meetup of 2017 in Sustainable Bridges. Cleanweb is the use of digital technology to address environmental sustainability, resource efficiency and climate change. There were 4 speakers and more than 30 attendees.

First up was Bruno Girin of Imby.Bio. They are developing an app that helps urban citizens improve the planting experience. CTO Bruno spoke about the challenges faced by individuals and the opportunity to help provide guidance through an app. Imby stands for In My Back Yard. Their app will be available to anyone interested in having a greener space, not just gardens. They are looking for early users who want to test out their app.

Next up was Daniel Fogg, COO of BuffaloGrid. They are supplying hubs in India to provide solar powered mobile phone charging and internet access to off-grid communities. They partner with local agents who are local shop owners to sell electricity for mobile phone charging to locals. They have a scalable business model and rapidly expanding their technology to the frontier markets where grid power do not fully meet the demand of villages and towns.

We have cleanweb regular Damon Hart-Davies of MyRadBot talking about their smart open source thermostatic radiator valve. Radbot is a simple device that can be easily fitted onto existing radiator valves which will easily help reduce energy waste through smart sensing. They have rebranded from OpenTRV to a more consumer facing brand to position themselves for the next phase of their growth. MyRadBot is looking for people to trial their device and are planning a crowdfunding campaign.

Miloš Milisavljević, CEO of Strawberry Energy talked about their smart solar powered benches. These stand alone benches are mini social hubs for smart cities, providing mobile phone charging to the public. You can download their app to find out air quality data collected from the smart bench as well as suggest where you want to see a smart bench. They are deploying 100 of these benches in London.

Sustainable Bridge resident, SHS (Sustainable Home Survey) also had their stand open to talk about the benefits of switching energy suppliers. They ran a raffle with one lucky winner winning a portable solar powered lantern and mobile phone charger.

We also served Toast Ale which was a real hit. Their beer is made of reused surplus bread that would otherwise be wasted.

As always, discussions were lively with challenging questions and everyone enjoyed the open and supportive vibe we have cultivated for our community of innovators and people who are passionate to explore new sustainable solutions.